The sensitivity of Annex
I habitats and Annex II species to recreation pressure

This section seeks to provide a brief overview
of the designated features and their potential sensitivities.
It should be stressed that this is only a generalised starting
point for relevant authorities, site managers and recreation
participants when considering the relationship between feature
sensitivity and recreational activities.

It is vital to bear in mind that many types
of marine habitats are, by their nature, dynamic systems. They
are constantly changing and reshaping through such processes
as erosion and accretion. This makes an assessment of their
vulnerability to different human activities extremely difficult.
Such features require long term monitoring to determine precisely
the changes that are taking place and the extent to which these
are caused by human influences. A summary table gives a quick
overview of the threats to these features from waterborne and
land originating sources.

Further information on different approaches
to assessing feature sensitivity is contained within the appendix
"An approach to sensitivity assessment". It should
be noted that the method of sensitivity assessment examined
in this appendix is only one example of how sensitivity can
be measured. It is not the accepted method of the statutory
agencies and it is only used in this study to highlight some
of the issues and complexities associated with sensitivity assessment.